Treasuring a Jewel of a voice

Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
TREASURING A JEWEL OF A VOICE
March 5, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE: MUSIC

I love this album, "Pieces of You" by Jewel. I have played it many, many times. Jewel has an absolutely beautiful voice that can sound full and womanly, or it can sound as it does on "Adrian," like a little girl, cracking with emotion, sadness, and confusion, as she sings to Adrian to "come out and play."

The song reminds me of those little hand and song games that we used to play as little kids, like "Miss Mary Mack": One of those games in particular was a call from a girl to her doll to come out and play with her. Despite a soprano voice, Jewel does not have the problem of always sounding sweet and cute, although she can sound sweet and cute. "The Morning Song," which happens to be the song before "Adrian," pleads with a lover to "Let the phone ring, let's go back to sleep/Let the world spin outside our door, you're the only one that I wanna see."
"You Were Meant For Me" is another song to a lover; in this one, she wants the lover to see that he wants her, no other.

Jewel takes another turn with her lyrics, too, tackling social issues. I like the song "Little Sister" a lot. In it, she talks to her little sister about her sister's drug problem. The song is done in a faster beat than the other songs, which is what gives it its character.

However, Jewel's other attempt at social consciousness, the title track "Pieces of You," grates on my nerves a bit. It's a call to everyone about their prejudices, but she overworks it. Although the purpose of the song is noble, it falls into the category of "preachy," unfortunately.

Although Jewel's many influences can be heard in some songs, her influences do not overtake her. She can mix her influences to create her own sound rather than sound like a rip-off. I bet that with the folk explosion that seems to be taking hold she becomes popular. The song I vote to be her "hit" is the bouncy, upbeat first song, "Who Will Save Your Soul?"

An interesting thing about the packaging of this CD is that there are poems of Jewel's included, which is something I have never seen before but like, just as I like the rest of the album.

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